


Loki’s undeath

by fay500



Category: Norse Religion & Lore
Genre: Loki-ish in a way, References to Norse Religion & Lore, my first fanfic-y thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-26
Updated: 2014-04-26
Packaged: 2018-01-20 20:38:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1524794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fay500/pseuds/fay500
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>some thing I wrote to play around with an idea for a new monster I had. I just really like Mythology so...yeah, Loki and Death. there's going to be more this I think.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loki’s undeath

Loki walked down the hallway, listening for any signs of what might have taken Mara and Death. The building he was in was an old cathedral, neglected for centuries and was in bad need of repair. There was something glinting on the floor, black and round, one of Mara's scales. What had happened to her and Death? He got up and looked around; searching for anything that might tell him where they were but the cathedral was empty. Loki walked over to the altar and lent against it, looking up at the big stained glass window where the light of a half moon was shining. He sighed. Mara and Death were not here now so he turned to leave and pushed against the altar to stand himself up and it moved backwards a few inches. Loki pushed it some more and it slid away to reveal a pitch black hole that he could not see the bottom of. On the stone next to the hole was purple blood, Death never liked being cut, she said it would ruin her outfit.

Loki jumped down into the tunnel and landed on soft, damp earth, his hand on the hilt of his sword as he crept forward into the darkness. His eyes soon grew accustomed to the darkness as he went on. Being from Jötunhiem, a world of shadows, he had excellent night vision and could see in almost total blackness but this he found difficult to see anything in. He raised a hand and whispered something so that a little ball of light appeared.

The path twisted and turned with many others branching off it, Loki tried to go in as straight a line as possible as he was afraid of getting lost. Coming from up ahead was a foul smell that he had to raise and hand to cover his nose and mouth and that almost made him turn back and try another tunnel. When Loki reached the end of it he wished he had turned back, it was a large room filled with decaying body parts: arms, legs, half a head and skins. This reminded him of something that happened long ago when it had been him on a pile of bodies similar to this. Loki drew his sword and quickly turned and went back down the tunnel and took the first turn he found then turned around to face where he had just come from, breathing heavily and waiting for something to strike.

After a few minutes nothing happened and Loki made himself calm down. He had been dead many times before and it did not bother him as much as it did others but he was determined never to wake up in a room like the one he had just come from again. He sighed deeply and turned to head down the tunnel he was in and just caught a glimpse of something slip into the darkness up ahead as he moved closer but it was gone. Loki then sensed something behind him that made him catch his breath and slowly he turned around to face it.

He almost screamed as he jumped back as far as he could away from the motionless thing in front of him, sword held up ready to fight. It was made out of someone, well, the bits that were left of them anyway. What was missing had been replaced with bits of junk, that’s what they did, drag you down in to their nest then take you apart and put you back together again with whatever they could find until you were one of them. The terrible part is that there is always a part of your mind left in it, never enough to fight it but always just enough to know what’s happening.

It just stood there looking at Loki then silently cocked its head and backed into the shadows again and disappeared from view. He griped the hilt so hard that his hands started to shake as he peered ahead out into the blackness trying to find it. He spun around and it was right in his face. Dead, rotting flesh hanging off its face in the places that were not missing and had been replaced with rusty bits of clockwork and old eye from a doll that had a small video camera in it that had been wired to the parts of its brain that were showing under the clockwork and metal frame.

Loki swung at its neck with his sword as hard as he could but it just raised an arm, much similar to the face and lost its metal hand but didn’t even notice. If it did it displayed no emotion because they never do. He stabbed at its chest and this time landed the hit. His sword went straight through and out the other side as Loki pushed it against the wall and stuck the blade in to the earth, pinning the thing there as he backed away. It was still looking at him with its dead eyes as it continued to reach out for him, arms swaying gently like tall grasses.

Loki gasped as something heavy collided with the back of his head and he fell to the floor and rolled over on to his back. It was another one of those monsters, different from the one behind him but still made the same way. How could he forget that there is always more than one, he thought as its metal boot came down on his face and he blacked out.

***

Loki slowly regained consciousness. He was in another room dug out from the earth and the little ball of light had followed him all the way. He blinked a few times as the back of his head still throbbed from where the puppet had hit him and was making it hard for him to see. Loki tried to raise a hand to his head but could not as he was suspended from the roof by his wrists, almost two feet of the ground where he saw his shirt and coat lying. He looked down at himself to find that the metal door covering his clockwork heart had been opened and the heart removed, replaced by clear tubes that were draining his blood into a glass tank on a bench next to him. There were more tubes coming from his torso, each slowly draining blood.

The Puppets always drained the blood of their victims as it made less of a mess when it came time to cut them up, they only supplied blood to the brain so they would not die before becoming a Puppet. There were tubes at the back of Loki’s neck, only pumping blood to his head.

The rest of his body was becoming numb and he could barely move at all and started to panic as the fear returned to him, he had been a Puppet before. They had cut him up and stuck things on to replace missing limbs: had been given a claw hand that only had three fingers that curved inwards, a new arm with pistons from an old steam engine, a long peas of flesh had been cut away from his side and been patched up in some places with old leather. Then they welded his mouth shut and scraped off all the burnt flesh and replaced it with broken china and used two thin bars of metal to hold it together by riveting them into him.

This was something Loki desperately did not want to relive. When he was a Puppet the last time pain had surged through him from where they had wounded him but the Puppet that was in control let him have it all so it could do as it pleased. He could not control his own body, could not lift a finger or utter a word as it went on dragging people back to its nest to convert them. Three of his friends had tried to save him even though no one had ever recovered from being a Puppet, they all just died if you tried to put them back but they tried any way. Eventually they succeeded in putting Loki back the way he was but one of them had become a Puppet, Benny. Benny was almost as old as Loki but had the ability to choose not to age and still looked like he was twelve and had irritated him thought the two did get on well. Now he was just ashes as a fire had started as a result of the fight that Mara and Death had had while trying to get Loki out. All the Puppets had perished it the fire as it was the only thing that could kill them.

When the three of them had come to rescue him, Loki’s Puppet was the one that converted Benny. He still remembered his friend’s screams as he ended the final moments of his free life, of really being him and Loki blamed himself even though he knew it was the Puppet. He remembered that as if it had been him more than anything ells the Puppet had done. And now he was going to be one again.

His heart could not beet faster because it was not in him but if it was it would have. Loki felt like he was made of lead as he tried to move which only succeeded in pulling on the tubes stuck in him. He tilted his head up to see if there was a way out above him but there was not and he groaned as this movement grated some of the needles in the back of his neck against his spine.

Loki herd some one behind him. No. Had they come already? He thought. They started fiddling with the tank that had his blood in it and reversed the flow, then they went over to something ells and he heard a clang of metal hitting metal ever so slightly. Loki could not see them but he could hear their footsteps as they approached - wait footsteps? They weren’t a Puppet. As she came in to view he sighed as a flood of relief washed over him. Standing there was a tall woman made entirely out of clockwork, small ticking brass and copper gears.

“You have no idea how happy I am to see you Mara.”

“Like wise.” She said and smiled, then preceded to remover the tubes when all his blood had returned and unchained him from the roof. She assisted in the replacement of his mechanical hart then picked up Loki’s shirt and coat from the ground as he closed and locked the hatch over his heart.

“Here” she dusted off his things and handed them to him.

“Thank you.” Loki said as he pulled them on.

“You’re welcome Father.”

***

Loki tried to walk to the door but stumbled and was caught by Mara.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yes… just a little… l-light headed.”

“I am not surprised.” Mara pulled one of Loki’s arms around her shoulders and helped him to the door.

“We need to leave here quickly.” She said. “They do not seem to mind my presence, perhaps it is my appearance.” She looked down at her metal body.

“Maybe they think you are one of them.” Loki smiled.

“Yes… if one comes go limp and pretend to be unconscious, they should not stop us then.”

“Hmm… are you sure that will work?” he asked.

“No.”

They walked on in silence the little ball of light still obediently following behind casting a little pool of reality for them.

At the edge of the light Mara saw something and motioned to Loki who went limp like a rag doll and let Mara drag him past two puppets who silently passed them without a glance. Mara walked as quietly as she could and adopted a blank expression, the only sound was the dragging of Loki’s feet on the ground. The puppets passed out of the light and they waited a long time before ending the charade, Loki stood upright and repositioned his grip on Mara’s shoulders.

“I must admit I am surprised they did not care about the light.” Mara said.

He shrugged. “Let’s just be thankful they passed us… where is Death. Are we going to get her now?” Loki asked.

“No.” she said sadly.

“Why not, what has happened?” he said.

“She has become a puppet.” Loki opened his mouth to say something but Mara raised a hand to silence him. “I will come back for her when you are out of here.”

“No. she can’t stay dow -” but he was cut off by Mara. “Father, in your current state you would get in the way, I mean no offence but it is true. Do you really doubt my abilities?”

“No, of course not.” He said.

“Good. Do not worry, I will bring mother back safely.” She smiled.

“I have no doubt in that she will be fine; she always is no matter what. It is more you I am concerned over Mara.” Loki said with worry in his eyes.

“Don’t be. They still think I am one of them.” She smiled.

“How will you get her out?” he asked.

“Still working on that.”

They continued down the tunnel slowly, waiting for any more puppets to come. They passed five more in two different groups and again nothing happened. How many are there, Loki thought to himself. It seemed to be a lot further then he remembered, like this tunnel would never end, but it had to soon.

Four puppets came around the corner and Loki went limp again as Mara dragged him passed them, as they passed he opened his eyes for just a moment and recognized one of them. It was the one that had knocked him out, it was Death with her unmistakable blue and purple hair.

“Death?” he breathed, the puppets stopped and so did Mara. The four of them backed in to the shadows and disappeared.

“You fool!” Mara hissed as she reached for her swords and passed one to Loki. They stood back to back staring out into the darkness until two of the puppets came silently running at them from either side and Mara and Loki stepped forward to let them crash into each other. Loki cut off their heads with one blow and they went crashing to the floor as their bodies continued to grope and stumble around until they found each other and began ripping one another to shreds.

There was silence again and the two remaining puppets could not be seen. One dropped from the roof onto Loki and knocked him to the ground and started trying to rip the eyes out of his head. Mara stuck her sword through its chest and lifted it up and off him, she pinned its feet to the ground with her’s and brought her blade up to cut most of it in half. It fell to the ground and a glass panel in its side shattered.

“We must hurry, father.” Mara said and extended a hand to help him up.

Death’s puppet came running at Mara from behind. “MARA!” Loki shouted. She spun around only to get hit in the face by Death’s rotting wooden hand.

Her hand was caught in the gears and metal frame work of Mara's face. Loki jumped up as Death and Mara were fighting each other while still bonded in that strange way. He ran up to them, sword raised but tripped as his ankle was grabbed by half of the puppet Mara had just cut up and it pulled him towards it. Loki kicked at its face as it tried to claw its way up him, it dug into his leg with a long shard of glass from its side as an attempt to hold on to him better. He gave a small grunt of pain and continued to kick at it as it pushed the glass in further, dragging itself closer to him.

Mara and Death were still fighting, she kicked Death against the wall and she was pulled back with her. As she was slammed in to the wall Death tried to duck as Mara came at her but only succeeded in pulling Mara’s face to the ground and in turn fell on top of her. Loki, still with the puppet shredding his leg dragged himself over to where they were fighting and lurched sideways as Death stood up again, crushing the puppets half a head.

Loki stood up, sword in hand as he and Mara faced the still silent Death.

***

Loki stumbled a little as blood poured from his leg where the puppet had cut him. The only sound was his blood dripping on the floor.  
Death backed up into the shadows and disappeared.

“I hate it when they do that,” Mara said.

Loki turned around, knowing she was behind him but instead there were three new puppets. Of course. They are a hive mind; you can never just alert one to your presence because they all will know. He swung at one’s arm but another stepped in front and got his sword lodged in-between two of the few ribs it had left. The third took a swipe at Loki’s head and he ducked as Mara came up behind him and stabbed it.  
Death reappeared beside Loki and clawed at his side and he kicked her back with his good leg. She grabbed his foot and hung on so he swung round as hard as he could and smashed her into two of the puppets. The third slid down Mara’s sword, pushing along the blade arms outstretched to her, the sword making a grinding sound as it scraped on the rusty iron of the puppet’s bones. Loki stabbed his sword through its head as it continued to reach for Mara.

Death and the other two puppets got up. One threw itself at Mara and pinned her to the ground and ripped out some of her clockwork, leaving her lying helpless on the floor, unable to move. The others went for Loki; one stabbed his good leg with a long metal spike that had been hammered through its wrist while Death and the other tried to pin him to the wall. He swung at them and slashed at the chest of the one with the spikes; it just kept going and pushed the spike through his shoulder and into the earth wall behind. He cried out in pain trying to beat them away with his free hand, more puppets came and held him to the wall, keeping him in place as Death picked up his fallen sword and rammed it through his chest. Loki felt it grate against his metal heart and uttered a small gargling whine as blood filled his lungs, gasped, and then died.

As he had been dead many times before being so again was no real concern, so it came as no surprise when he woke up. Again Loki was hanging from the roof by his wrists, tubes coming from his body draining his blood, except there was no blood, it had all gone already and puppets were moving towards him. There were piles of junk around the edges of the walls, old bits of everything. Some of the puppets had knives while others searched through the rusty metal and rotting wood pulling out bits of tin can and pipes, one had parts of a broken door. The ones with knives came closer and Loki was afraid. ‘Not again, not again,’ he through. He shut his eyes tight, breathing deeply and braced himself. A knife cut into his lower arm and he screamed as it dug deeply and a hand reached in and tugged at the bone, removing it. The hand reached in again and replaced the bone with the bent spokes of an old gate, screwing them into his joint with cogs and small gears. The knife came back and started to scrape away the flesh on the front of his chest as he screamed even louder, another knife came and started removing internal organs, things that were not needed as a puppet. These were replaced with decaying engine parts that were fixed in place with long pieces of wire that were looped through ribs and flesh alike.

The pain was so bad that Loki could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness; the screams that he heard seemed to be coming for someone else and each new stab of pain pulling him back to reality.

The puppets boarded up half of the hole in his chest with the broken boards of a door and fastened them in place with more wire, this time the spokes from a bicycle. They cut away a massive slice of flesh from his leg and hung the side of a milk can over it and screwed it in to him top and bottom with door hinges. Half the skin on his neck removed and covered with the lid of a sardine can and riveted in place with the bolts off a hubcap. Loki screamed his loudest yet but the sound started to die away as he felt the puppets extending their single mind towards him, using the old thing they had just put in him to gain access to his mind and slowly took over. All noises ceased as the puppets added one final addition to their work, their shared mind. Loki could feel them taking what little control over his body he had left and he felt their collective consciousness inside his head as he became a puppet. They unchained him from the roof and he silently hit the ground and the puppet straightened itself up.


End file.
